Sequels in July 2015

I hear Japan is struck by heatwave. To be honest, it is still a little cold in London.

Friday, July 24, 2015
Nikkei buys Financial Times

After the news revealed, Financial Times (FT) repeatedly reported suggesting the validity of this deal. It seems that FT is eager to ease the readers from the worries about falling off its value.

The Financial Times: Nikkei promises to respect FT’s editorial independence

The Financial Times: FT and Nikkei differences need not cause a clash

The situation resembles that Jeff Bezos bought Washington Post. Independence of editing and expressing is a crucial matter for the media. Writers of FT must be concerned about it. I hope FT will keep, or improve its quality of the articles.

My past entry: Mr. Bezos buy The Washington Post


Monday, July 20, 2015
Syriza's agony to the recovery of Greece

The Greek government is suspected to have planed to revive Drachma. Furthermore, it was possibly considered to raid the central bank reserves and hack citizens account. Tsipras is demanded to explain about this covert plan.

Reuters: Greek PM Tsipras under pressure over covert Syriza drachma plan reports

InternationalBusinessTimes: Greek Prime Minister Tsipras comes under pressure to explain covert alternative plan

As I wrote, it is not surprising that Greek government has wanted to issue Drachma instead of continuous use of Euro. But, it should be problematic if the government tried to take over personal estate illegally. Since many Greek people belong to the public sector, grasping the financial status of each citizen is easier than in other developed countries, I guess.

My past entry: Greek people vote no to austerity


Sunday, July 19, 2015
Knizia board games day

Finally, I got 24 pts on this day. The winner marked amazing 99pts, with winning of Kingdoms, Beowulf, Ra, and Samurai. The final mark was the sum of each score of games calculated by the rank and weight of the game. Therefore, the more games you played, the higher mark you got. The champion played a total of ten games, in which four were victorious. Congratulations!


Wednesday, July 15, 2015
President Iwata of Nintendo passed away

As far as I know, the successor of Iwata has not been determined. Miyamoto, a legendary game creator, and Takeda, specialized to hardware development, are regarded as the next president. Tatsumi Kimishima, a general manager with experience as a banker, is also involved in the temporal administration.

I am not interested in who will get the seat of the president. My concern is whether I will play Nintendo games with fun in the future.

Chinese and Indians toward London

A recent report by New World Wealth and LIO Global suggest the current situation of immigration of wealthy people.

Second citizenship & the migration of HNWIs 2000-2014

According to this report, the immigration of wealthy people has been accelerated for this decade. It is not surprising, since High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWI) can choose their residence to gain maximum benefit from their residential country and avoid the risk of turmoil, in addition to expensive taxation as I wrote just yesterday.

My past entry: Thomas Piketty and Capital in the 21st Century

The result of this survey suggests that the UK is the most popular exit for HNWI. There is 125,000 net inflow of HNWI between 2000-2014, double as the US. Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong are also popular. A common character of these countries is the sophisticated business environment. It is also advantageous that English language is available there.

Hindustan Times: India, China face exodus of high net worth citizens: Report

The UK has developed the infrastructure of financing. While it is popular for European people, Singapore attracts Chinese because of its location and language. And land costs there are incredibly increasing.

On the other hand, China and India are the countries with the highest number of HNWI who left the home country. As these countries have a massive population, this result is quite natural. In addition, China and India are holding a political risk. HNWI can be afraid their estate being got rid of by the government or being destroyed by the riot.

As well as security concerns, education of children is also cited frequently as the reason for leaving the home country. In this sense, the UK government takes enthusiastic leadership to improve the level of education.

I think immigration will be one of the keywords in the 21st century. It is not limited to wealthy people. Many refugees reach EU from the Middle East for surviving. The development of transportation and Internet technology, and rapid sequential spread of information globally has made the world narrower. Shortly, people who do not like their own nationality will quickly abandon it. We can choose our lives. And each government has to construct attractiveness for not only domestic people but also immigrants, to maintain the shape of the nation.

Google admit failure of Google Plus

An internet giant seems to surrender its challenge to gain the initiative in the SNS world.

Google decided to change its policy that had demanded users to have an account of Google Plus for engaging other services. You will no more requested G+ ID for watching YouTube.

Google Plus is a social networking service that Google produced enthusiastically four years ago. Google offered some connective services such as Photo storage and Hangout messenger. It would have been a tough competitor of Facebook and Twitter. However, it has not been spread than being expected by the provider.

The Wall Street Journal: Google Gives Up on Google+ as a Facebook Rival

Indeed, the number of registered users reached one billion in 2013. It seems to reflect, however, the new policy of Google requesting registration for the use of other services.

DAZEINFO: Google+ Reaches 1 Billion Users Mark: +1 Button Is Viewed 5 Million Times A Day [REPORT]

Some Google employees said the reasons for the failure in Google Plus. First, its introduction was too late to overcome proceeding competitors. Second, it was actually not for users but for Google itself. There seems broad controversy even in Google how to carry out this ambitious project. Some employees are fearful to be sectioned-off.

ITProPortal: Google employees on why G+ failed

I began to use Google Plus as soon as I could make my account without an invitation. But soon, I became not utilizing it except blog uploading and photo storing. This current is not surprising as I think all SNSs are going to an infrastructure. But I felt that Google Plus never became in fashion in Japan, in spite of the participation of some famous people like AKB48 members.

My past entry: Facebook in the future

Actually, Google had several failures in business. Even though Google Plus will be withdrawn soon, I expect Google to provide an alternative which is more attractive.

Thomas Piketty and Capital in the 21st Century

Recently, I read a book explaining the opinion of Thomas Piketty.

Thomas Piketty is a famous economist who published "Capital in the 21st Century" recently. This book attracted public attention all over the world. To be honest, the content of this book seemed too difficult for me to entirely understand. So, I read just a commentary book written by a Japanese economist.

Amazon.com: Capital in the Twenty-First Century

The main concept of his hypothesis is quite simple, as "R>G." Thus, the rate of return on capital is greater than the rate of economic growth over the long term. It means that wealthy people can multiply their capital more quickly than poor people gain their own money. As a result, inequality will expand endlessly.

It is noteworthy that Piketty has not proven this hypothesis mathematically, but he gave rich evidence suggesting this phenomenon.

Piketty criticized Simon Kuznets, a Nobel prize winner. Kuznets claimed that the discrepancy of income will shrink in a developed country following the economic growth. According to Piketty, Kuznets referred only limited area of data, led to the false conclusion. Indeed, inequality was diminished during wartime, because the government settled an aggressive taxation. After all, external regulation is necessary to modify the inequality, according to Piketty.

He recommends global collaboration to introducing progressive taxation for people with high income. Currently, there are some tax havens, in which people have to pay smaller income tax. For this reason, wealthy people with freedom of moving are advantageous to avoid tax.

His idea was accepted by many people, especially left-winged group. Politicians who emphasize the importance of social security frequently mention Piketty. By contrast, libertarians and neo-conservative people are skeptical about his opinion. Aside from the correctness of his idea, it seems too idealistic to be feasible. It is unlikely that all nations are collaborative to raise the income tax.

Surprisingly, Piketty also kept an eye on Abenomics, and his attitude was supportive. He never denies the necessity of economic growth. He admitted the inflation as an effective way to reduce the national debt.

I think the substantial weakness of Piketty's thought is the lack of theoretical validity. Indeed, R>G has been right. But how is it in the future? Western countries achieved today's prosperity through the industrial revolution. On the other hand, IT revolution enabled us to do business with extremely low cost. It is possible a few genius people born in a developing country will make changes in the world. We never know whether "History repeats itself" is always true until the day has come.

Activities directing future, present, and past

Are you looking at future, or past?

Ultimately, all human activities are categorized into three directions: past, present, and future.

Behaviors for presence is to satisfy your desire immediately. Eating, sleeping, and sexual behaviors are basic activities of humankind. Taking alcohol, smoking, gambling, computer gaming, and other entertainment can also bring you pleasure.

On the other hand, future-directed activities are somewhat of investment. Labor is an example. It is usually boring and uncomfortable, but reward you as gaining the salary. Learning and training are also included in this type of activities.

In general, activities for present is more enjoyable than those for future. So, you often face a confrontation about which do you choose. As a principle, the more investment you take, the more you will be happy in the future. This is the reason your parents encouraged you to learn more instead of having fun.

However, we cannot survive without essential pleasure. Activities for future are often so stressful that you feel irritated. Resting and refreshing are necessary.

You should be cautious that some activities reduce their pleasure when excessively used. Binge drinking is no more fun. Pathological gambling will exhaust you, and get rid of all your energy in addition to money. After all, the balance between the present and future is crucial.

This concept is also adaptable to politics. I think that politicians are expected to look at future, as I wrote.

My past entry: What is politics?

Politicians should take a leadership to give more fruitful society to the next generation. But it causes pain to us. For example, we have to accept austerity at present to reduce the national debt. Waste of fossil fuel will bring adverse effect on the environment. The role of politicians is to persuade citizens to be patient now, with drawing the vision of better future. Unfortunately, they tend to persist on immediate benefit and superficial gain, because they are concerned with the result of the next election.

Are there any activities toward past? Yes.

Looking through your life is also important. Regret is generally no use, but remembering that you have been helped by many persons is worthy for your life. It reminds you why you are here and what you should do. Even if your future is covered by the darkness, beautiful memory can protect you from fear of doom.

This concept becomes important when you are old. In the terminal stage, you cannot make investment any more. Instead, looking the previous life will tell you the meaning of your life.

Can Bitcoin be an alternative in euro crisis?

Recently, Bitcoin is focused again.

BNP, the biggest French bank is considering to deal Bitcoin as one of its currency funds. It is now beta-testing, and will publish the result soon.

International Business Times: The French bitcoin revolution: BNP Paribas testing crypto on its currency funds

RT.com: France’s biggest bank BNP Paribas tests bitcoins - media

If major banks accept Bitcoin, it will become more popular, and it is more important, will get public trust. Unfortunately, Utilization of Bitcoin is still not deemed trustworthy even by British citizens, one of most sophisticated investors.

My past entry: Bitcoin is recognised, but not accepted in the UK

Actually, the price of Bitcoin is very volatile. Recently, it was fluctuating by 7% in a day, maybe due to the issue of Greek financial crisis.

Some people think Greek citizens will utilize Bitcoin as an asylum. Currently, Greek banks restrict withdrawal of money. Not a few people can be afraid that the government will get rid of their money. Indeed, in some Latin American countries, Bitcoin is taking a role of protection from the hyperinflation of the local currency.

International Business Times: What Greece can learn from bitcoin adoption in Latin America
 
Though the situation is not the same between Greece in Eurozone and Latin America, it is not surprising if Greek people are attracted to crypt currency.

If the price of Bitcoin is stabilized due to support of mega banks, many people including Greeks will buy Bitcoin. It is potentially a buffer of euro crisis.

Grexit issue is approaching the next challenge, as the Greek government has submitted a new plan of austerity. I am interested how Bitcoin works in this complicated situation.

*Sequel

Human can live on the moon in the 2030s?

Very recently, an interesting report about the moon attracted public attention.

A research team partially funded by NASA published a magnificent result, which suggests that human will be able to live on the moon in the 2020s.

The Verge: A new NASA-funded study lays out a plan to return humans to the Moon

India Today: Humans may be able to live on moon in next decade: NASA

According to the roadmap, the study showed, NASA can send robots to the moon in 2017. And then, permanent base will be constructed on the moon within a decade. The team says that this plan is feasible to carry out with the current budget of NASA, using a public-private partnership with space companies such as Space-X founded by Elon Musk.

My past entry: Elon Musk also see the satellite

How a fantastic report it is! Indeed, the cost of sending things to the moon has been dramatically reduced for 46 years from the legendary landing of Captain Armstrong. Proceeding robotic landing in advance to human operation is realistic, to minimize the risk of fatal accident.

However, whether the government is willing to adopt the plan is unclear. There are many concerns of American people other than space project, as the report mentioned. Apollo project was quite decisive to defeat the Soviet Union in the cold war era, with showing the power of technology. But nowadays, the US is struggling for maintaining domestic safety. If the government declares the restart of space development, it will be criticized by not a few citizens.

Space development has a fascinating image. But as an investment, it is disastrous, even not an illusion. Colonization of the moon has been a great theme for Sci-Fi writers. However, there are several challenges in the construction of a city in which human can survive for a long term. Aside of technological issues, political conflicts and legal arguments are also annoying.

Wikipedia: Colonization on the moon

Considering them, I am doubtful that I will be a citizen on the moon. Nonetheless, The published report showed a possibility, very exciting.

Nikkei buys Financial Times

An astonishing news. Nikkei (Nihon Keizai Shimbun [Japan Finance newspaper]), one of the largest media corporation in Japan decided to buy Financial Times (FT), a world famous newspaper from Pearson, a media conglomerate.

International Business Times: Pearson agrees to sell Financial Times Group to Nikkei in £844m deal

The deal was approved by the board of direction of Pearson on 23rd. It costs 1.31 billion USD. Pearson will not sell Economist, a famous magazine in which Big Mac Index is published.

My past entry: McDonald's in London

I recognize that FT is one of the best media in the world. The articles in FT are always sophisticated and accurate. The writers are talented and sincere. I heard an episode regarding FT, which supported the Iraq war, apart from any other media in the UK, but after the war, the representatives made an apology for its opinion.

A few years ago, I was a regular subscriber of FT. But the English language on the paper was so difficult that I could hardly understand the contents. Recently, I often read it in translated version. I am impressed by its deep consideration.

Nikkei is also a great media. Its articles are more trustworthy compared to other media in Japan. But its history is far short, Nikkei launched in 1946 while FT has been driven since 1888.

Nowadays, even giant media are subjected to purchase. Two years ago, Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, bought Wall Street Journal personally. Chen Guangbiao, a Chinese billionaire, tried to buy New York Times, but failed.

My past entry: Mr. Bezos buy The Washington Post

My past entry: New York Times will be bought by China?

I think this trend suggests the difficulty of managing the newspaper. Printed media are suffering from decreasing sales in worldwide. Many media adopt the digital subscription scheme. But not a few people are satisfied to watch articles on the internet for free.

In addition to managing media, keeping the high quality of journalists and their articles is challenging. To be honest, I am afraid that FT will lose its reputation because of the change of ownership. I hope FT to continue unique and enlightening publication.


*Sequel
**Sequel

TV program licencies matter

In spite of decreasing popularity due to the rise of the internet, TV is a still dominant media resource.

Some developed countries have their national or semi-national broadcasting station. Different from private sectors, official broadcasts do not rely on advertisement fee from other companies. So, they gather money from citizens as a licence fee.

However, the licence fee for watching TV is a complicated matter. In Japan, the legal procedure for imposing the fee was vague previously. So, many citizens avoided paying for watching. At the same time, NHK made some scandals regarding fabricating news. These incidents caused a movement of the not-to-pay campaign.

In addition, there are scarce ways to grasp the exact amount of watchers. Especially, it is almost impossible to know how many people are watching TV programs on the internet. Indeed, many overseas people watch BBC without paying the licence fee.

ITProPortal: Over 60 million people watching BBC iPlayer for free outside the UK

Watching TV programs created in a foreign country has some problems. Foreign people are usually not subjected to domestic legislation. It is difficult to tax them for watching official TV programs. On the other hand, it is unfair for taxpayers to compensate for the gain of overseas free-riders. In addition, there are considerable discrepancies between countries about ethical and cultural regulation. Many Japanese animations would be deemed as a child porn in other countries.

My past entry: AKB48 mimicking child porn?

My past entry: Porn movies extinction in EU?

For this reason, many broadcasters prohibit foreign people from watching its programs. They distinguish each watcher's IP address, and shut out the users connecting via a foreign server. This scheme is also adopted in free broadcasting services.

However, this blocking can be easily pierced using VPN server. Many companies rent a server with the low cost so that users can mimic their IP address as if they are connecting from the issued country. After all, it is very difficult to keep them away.

On the other hand, there is a common sense that contents on the internet are free as a principle. This fact makes service providers difficult to sell digital contents on the internet. HBO, a popular cable TV provider is always annoyed by pirated movies.

Entertainment: Game of Thrones piracy hits record high despite HBO's stand-alone service

Taxing an online content is extremely difficult. A careless solution will cause an adverse result. A German media tried to prohibit Google from citing its articles. It led to a rapid reduction of the readers.

My past entry: Taxing news aggregator seems reckless

My past entry: Time lock of buying erotic e-books in Germany

I do not support piracy at all. However, copyright and related regulations seem no more suitable to the current situation. We have to reconsider the balance between the benefit of free access and protection of the creators.

Best strategy to win the Monopoly

Do you know Monopoly? It is one of the most popular board games in the world, originated in the US in 1903. There are many variations and collaborative designs published.

The players are to proceed on the map to buy the land with their money. Monopolizing a group of sequential lands enables the owner to build houses on the lands. Players stopped at the land have to pay the tenancy fee to the owner. Finally, the last player survived from bankruptcy will win.

You can also play it alone with the iPad, consumer games, and PC. Unfortunately, AI players are too weak to match human players.

World championship tournament and several competitions of Monopoly are held every year.

Recently, Natalie Fitzsimons, a software designer in Ireland won the seat of the 2015 Monopoly UK and Ireland Championship. She told some secrets of triumphant.

International Business Times: UK Monopoly champion Natalie Fitzsimons: Secret to winning is staying in jail for as long as possible

There are three things important in playing the game in this article. Partial collaboration with an opponent, staying in the jail in the climax, and not to overestimate the value of Dark Blue land group, are all critical. However, these things are no longer secret, but essential tips. Of course I knew these facts, so others do.

Monopoly is rather a traditional game. Almost all strategies have been already found. While beginners never defeat skillful players, the person who attract the Goddess of Luck the most will win the game, after all. Nonetheless Monopoly is still exciting game. I hope her good games.

By the way, Japanese has twice got the champion so far.

Ikuo Hyakuta, the first Japanese world champion of Monopoly said that the component of Monopoly playing was divided into four categories: Luck, Strategy, Tactics, and Negotiation. The each value was 4, 3, 2, and 1, respectively.

I agree with his opinion. Firstly, luck is the most decisive factor to distinguish the winner and loser. Regardless of your skills, hard luck brings you a doom in this game. Secondly, you have to draw a grand strategy how to conquer the board in first several turns, watching the land you got and the amount of cash. Tactics is a sense of choice in each turn. Whether you negotiate with other players, build a house, or let them alone, is a crucial decision in each turn. Finally, negotiation skills are essential to creating win-win solutions as many as possible each of which will aid you to reach the final victory.

Interestingly, Hyakuta's formula is suitable to other games, or life itself. Luck is very critical, but the sum of the other factors overcomes hard luck. It looks suggestive.

Google car meet the first crash

Since Google's driverless cars launched in Jan 2015, I have scarcely heard the news about it. Indeed, it seems going well, in spite some accidents occurred.

My past entry: Google auto-driving car to launch

According to Google, there has been a total of fourteen accidents relevant to Google cars in these six years. Google claims that the rate of accident is much less than that of usual vehicles. But this number is hard to interpret because of the absolute minority of the vehicles, in my opinion.

The Telegraph: Google blames careless humans after first driverless car injury

Recently, three employees were injured while riding in a Google car. They were taken to hospital with minor whiplash. Google attributed this accident to careless humans who were driving another car to hit into the Google car.

Google blames careless humans after first driverless car injury

ITProPortal: Google blames humans after robot car crashes in California

Indeed, even an auto-driving car cannot avoid an accident caused by another vehicle when it rams into the car. If programmed to dodge any obstacles, it would make a rapid and unexpected acceleration, rather doing damage to the passenger.

Google seems confident of the safety of Google car. I agree with its opinion in general. Most traffic accidents are caused by human error. Automated driving has also been adopted in the airplane. I convince that Google car is much more secure at least than the car I drive on my own.

The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car, Chapter 2

However, there remains a worry about the incompleteness of its algorithm. Considering current immaturity of Windows and other IT software, it is not surprising if some bugs are found in Google driving program. It will take another decade till we can sleep with relaxation in a Google car, I think.

Syriza's agony to the recovery of Greece

Greece is going to avoid the first wave of its financial crisis.

Syriza, the ruling left-winged party, recently submitted a plan of austerity including raising VAT and pension cut. It is corresponding to the demand of EU to gain a continuous bailout, notwithstanding the result of the referendum.

To be honest, I had prospected that Tsipras would continue to resist the request of Germany and the European Central Bank for more strict austerity, utilizing the vote of citizens as an excuse. I am not sure the reason but, he seemed to assess that it would be not wise to oppose the bailout suggestion anymore. Ironically, this sequence brought me a strengthened doubt about the necessity of referendum.

My past entry: Greece to default by the silly referendum

His decision was accepted. The EU decided to restart the financial aid to Greece. The EU has a reason to want to help Greece. If Greece withdraws from eurozone and EU, separatists in other countries such as Spain and the UK would be activated, potentially leading to the collapse of the EU itself. On the other hand, Greek people well recognize the benefit of belonging to the EU. This negotiation is fundamentally win-win.

The BBC: Greece debt crisis: German MPs vote 'yes' to bailout talks

However, Tsipras became annoyed from internal foes. Thirty-eight of the lawmakers in Syriza voted against the plan. The opponents included two cabinet members. This fact forced Tsipras to reshuffle the cabinet. The former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis criticized him saying that the government's austerity plan would not revive the economy of Greece.

The Independent: Greece debt crisis news: Yanis Varoufakis says 'disastrous' bailout reforms 'will fail' as Tsipras reshuffles cabinet

Tsipras seems so tired that he hardly eats or sleeps. I easily imagine his extreme fatigue, considering the complicated situation. He is forty years old, as same as me. A politician is one of the toughest jobs. I hope he will not get sick.

Hindustan Times: Overworked Greek PM Tsipras 'doesn't eat or sleep', says mother


*sequel

Knizia board games day

Today, I participated in a board game competition at Mad Hatter in London.

This meeting themed Reiner Knizia, a famous game designer. Knizia created a large amount of board games. The attendees fought for the prizes signed by Knizia himself.

London on Board: Kniziathon at The Mad Hatter (with prizes!)

Unfortunately, I had some other tasks today, so I left the pub early before the closing. I wonder who won the prize.

I knew some games produced by Knizia. Today, I played a total of four games below.

Lost Cities
This is a two-players game. You are to explore some unknown terrains. The taste of this game is very abstract. You play a card on which a number is printed. Each card you played is to be scored at the end of the round, but your score can be minus when inadequate numbers have been played. When you choose to drop a card unworthy for you, the opponent has an opportunity to get it. Whether playing a card or drop one is a serious dilemma. This game is easy to play, and fast to end, but very exciting. I lost the close game.

Ingenious
This is an abstract board game. Players are to place a tile, in which two symbols are printed, on a large hex board. Creating a line of a same symbol is scored. You have to get the scores with all six kind of symbols, as the minimum number you got in these symbols is decisive. I played it with an opponent. I lost the game too, despite the match was close.

Ra
This is one of my favorite games by Knizia. Players bid some chips using a token. Gathering some chips in harmony brings you victory points. There are several tokens each of which has different strength. Used tokens are also subjected to the bid. When Ra chip is drew, the bid begins automatically, and if the last Ra appears the round will end immediately. Thus, the situation will change dramatically according to each draw of the chip. I got the victory in this game!

Qin
The theme of this game is ancient China. You place a domino-like plate to construct your province. As expanding the region of the same color, your province get bigger. There are several villages which are subjected to be scrambled. Who complete the kingdom will win the game. I lost this game. To be honest, I felt I was a little unlucky to draw fitting tiles.

There are many other games Knizia invented. Some games are playable with iPad application. I recommend you to utilize such digital aids in playing Tigris & Euphrates, one of the masterpieces of Knizia, because it reduces considerably the difficulty to clarify the situation of the battlefield.


*sequel

Suicide of farmers in India

In India, suicide in farmers has been a significant problem for several years. More than 300,000 farmers committed suicide in this two decades. In 2014, the number was 12,360, risen by 5% from the previous year. The primary reason for the suicide is considered as financial problems, as bankruptcy and indebtedness were estimated to lead the tragedy in approximately 20% of the cases. 

LiveMint: Farm distress led to 12,360 suicides in 2014

Agriculture is one of the prominent contents of industry in India. And it its performance is easy to be influenced by external factors, such as climate change and the performance of foreign competitors. Not only natural disasters but also unexpected good harvest can shake the price of crops adversely. Unless they prepare for such situations, farmers are struck by a sudden reduction of income.

Recently, the Indian government had encouraged farmers to purchase genetically modified (GM) crops for maximizing the cost-effectiveness. However, some farmers failed to grow them up due to bad monsoon, and left a large amount of debt. Some media blamed this public policy.

The GM genocide: Thousands of Indianfarmers are committing suicide after using genetically modified crops

On the other hand, farmers are not identified as risky occupations in terms of suicide. There are many people more likely to be exposed to social stresses. Farmers, who can breathe fresh air and take physical exercise, are rather safe from mental disorders, in general. Some practitioners recommend patients with mental disorders to have an opportunity to take part in agricultural activities.

In fact, there are 135,000 suicidal cases in India in a year. More than half of Indian are engaged in agriculture. It means that the suicide rate in farmers is less than that in the general population in India.

I have no doubt that poverty is a dominant risk for suicide. And the matter is that many Indians are suffering from poverty, regardless of their jobs. Although the government might be too optimistic to promote GM seeds, it is unfair to attribute suicide of Indian farmers to it or other single cause. It is a complex matter.

I think that one of the most effective way to reduce suicidal case in India is to regulate the sale of some kinds of insecticides, because a third of the means of suicide is poisoning, as I wrote in the past. Elimination of means is much easier than the elimination of the cause, and it is almost equally efficient.

My past entry: Suicide in India

My past entry: Suicide prevention andpublic regulation

Return to UK

Just now I returned to my flat.

It was a splendid and fruitful journey. Austria was a beautiful country. And I have learned many things through attending the conference.

I was a little surprised that there were many Japanese cuisine restaurants in Vienna. I saw some restaurants at every corner at the center of Vienna. Most of them dealt with Sushi. I visited a buffet restaurant named "Ginza," a famous town in Tokyo. It looked like a conveyor belt sushi, but adopted the all-you-can-eat style, for 11 Euro. There were two lanes, one of which for sushi, and the other for a hot meal such as spring roll. Actually, I have seen this kind of store once in Germany. The taste was not so extremely bad.

My past entry: Conveyor belt sushi, not bad.

I enjoyed Sachertorte at some famous cafes. Unfortunately, they were not good compared to Japanese ones, too sweet and taste a little cheap. I think London sweets are superior.

In the academic conference, many speakers made an excellent presentation. I was impressed firstly with a lot of sessions. Secondly, several speakers claimed their own opinion with enthusiasm. It was interesting not a few researchers criticized current situation and management regarding forensic mental health. They were not emotional, and productive discussion was conducted in several rooms.

I listened to many seminars. A professor talked about discrimination of citizens against insanity defense scheme and carried out a study to challenge their thoughts. Community treatment order was considered doubtful in terms of prevention of recidivism. Mental health problems in police officers were also issued. I enjoyed a wide variety of discussion there.

There are not many days left for me to stay in London. I will make efforts with mindfulness not to leave any regrets.

Iran nuclear agreement

Very recently, a historic deal was done here at Vienna. Iran and members of United Nations made an agreement regarding the nuclear program of Iran.

Previously, Iran insisted on running a peaceful nuclear industry. But it was not trusted by the counterparts. The US, UK, Russia, China, France, and Germany wanted Iran to abandon the capacity to make a nuclear bomb. Therefore, western countries continued to make a sanction to Iran.

According to the deal agreed, Iran will reduce its stockpile of enriched uranium by 98% for 15 years. Also, Iran will accept international inspections. Instead, the sanction against Iran will be gradually compromised.

BBC: Iran nuclear crisis: Six key points

The New York Times: The Iran Nuclear Deal – A Simple Guide

This agreement was welcomed with great pleasure by Iranians. President Hassan Rouhani said that this deal was an important juncture in the history.

The Guardian: Thousands take to Iran streets to celebrate the historic nuclear deal

On the other hand, this news ignited the hatred of Israel, which has been opposing Iran for some decades. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that this agreement would be a historical error, suggesting that Iran would betray the US soon.

The Sydney Morning Herald: Israel's leaders react with fury to Iran nuclear deal

The US and Iran were hostile with each other so far. This agreement is expected to open the door to improved relationship. Obama administration accomplished a great reconciliation, following Cuba. Some people rally that it is for making a legacy of Obama approaching the end of the term as the President. In my opinion, it is a marvelous deal, nonetheless. However, it is not sure this decision will be successful in terms of the peace in future.

President Iwata of Nintendo passed away

Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo, a famous computer game company in Japan, passed away on July 11, 2015, aged of 55.

He was reported as being suffering from bile duct tumor. However, it was only a few weeks ago that he attended a stockholders' meeting. His sudden death seems unexpected even for close people.

ITProPortal: President of Nintendo Satoru Iwata has died

Iwata was a programmer. After being inaugurated to the President, he developed Nintendo DS and Wii, which were innovating and greatly successful game consoles. Recently, however, Nintendo is suffering from suppressed sales, partially due to the rise of smartphone applications as a strong competitor. Iwata planned to enter the market of smartphone apps.

Who take over Iwata has still to be determined. Shigeru Miyamoto, a director and the creator of "Super Mario Brothers," or another director, Genyo Takeda, the first game designer of Nintendo, may be nominated as the successor.

International Business Times: Shigeru Miyamoto: I am overcome with sadness at Satoru Iwata's sudden death

In my impression, Iwata was not a charismatic leader such as Steve Jobs. Instead, he understood the mind of engineers well. Recent products by Nintendo did not express the superiority of its technology, but they were user-friendly and attracted many people who had not been accustomed to computer games. I think Iwata was a well-balanced person.

Pray for Iwata. Nintendo will face a serious challenge.


*sequel

Music concert in Vienna

As Vienna is a music city, I visited Musikfreunde to listen to a classic music concert.

Musikfreunde is a famous music association and its concert hall. It is located in the center of Vienna.

Unfortunately, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was closed in the summer. Instead, I got a ticket for the front seat with relatively low cost.

The hall was solemn and gorgeous.

In this concert, players wore traditional costume and a wig. They looked like an imperial court musical band.

The list included "Eine kleine Nachtmusik,"Klaviersonate Nr.11 A‐dur (TurkishMarch)," and "Le Nozze di Figaro, K.492," each of which was so popular that I knew the melody even not so being familiar with classics.

In addition to the orchestra, the singers were extremely fascinating. It was a refreshing night.

Visiting Vienna

I am in Vienna today, for attending an academic conference.

It took only hours from London to Vienna international airport.

The immigration check was quite simple.

Vienna is a cool city. The buildings are beautiful, and not so crowded compared to London.

I visited Sigmund Freud museum. It was a house and practice of Freud until the WWII. It was a tiny house.

Freud moved to London to avoid being captured by the Nazis. I would like to visit Freud's house in London later.

 

There are several wonderful building around Vienna. This is Hofburg, the imperial palace.

Maria Theresien Platz was also cute.

I ate Tafelspitz, boiled beef at Plachutta. It was delicious and rich tasted.

I love Vienna!

Wind power plants in Denmark, still a dream

On July 9th, a historic wind was recorded in Denmark. It was not due to its speed or magnitude, but its utility. On the day, Denmark could supply all electricity demand with wind power plants exclusively.

The Guardian: Wind power generates 140% of Denmark's electricity demand

The supply rate of the day reached 116% and even 140% at midnight. Denmark exported excessive power to neighbors, Norway, Germany, and Sweden.

According to the Guardian, Oliver Joy, a spokesman for trade body the European Wind Energy Association, said that it was not a fantasy to supply all demands of energy with renewable energy.

Unfortunately, however, I am skeptical of his words.

In Japan, for example, a total of 1,083,000GWh of the energy was consumed in 2008. After the earthquake and tsunami disaster in 2011, consumption of energy was suppressed. In 2013, the total production of energy was 1,052,000GWh. Compared to this, whole Denmark's windfarms have the 4.8GW capacity. It matches 17,280GWh, only one-sixtieth of the demand.

In addition, wind power is still unstable. The fact that Denmark sold the energy provided from windfarms on the day means that it has to import energy on other days. Indeed, Denmark usually imports energy from foreign countries, including France, which provides massive energy with the atomic power plant.

Japan is surrounded by the ocean. It is difficult to make a deal of energy itself with foreign countries. Its lands are too narrow and complex to be utilized as the ground of windfarms.

Therefore, wind power is still unfeasible to rely on, at least for Japan, as I wrote previously.

My past entry: Long way to renewable energy

My past entry: Atomic power plant to restart in Japan

On the other hand, we should accept that carbonate energy resource is exhausting. Shortly, we should make some innovation to supply stable energy for survival without oil and gas.

One possibility is energy storage. In the present, excessive energy generated is to be wasted. Using batteries with high efficacy, we need not be afraid of a calm day. I expect nuclear fusion technique. But it will take several decades to become utilized.

Up to the day we can gather infinite energy from the air, we have to continue to use conventional ways of power generation, with the best mixture.

Dreadful strike of London tube

On July 9th, London underground experienced the most awful strike in this decade. Main vessels in London were paralyzed, and passengers rushed into the bus so that a bus driver refused to start because of the too crowded vehicle.

The Guardian: Tube strike: commuters struggle in worst disruption for 13 years

In London, we frequently encounter a strike, or any other reasons which cause impairment of some tube lines. Thus, Londoners are rather accustomed to such incident in general. They are also tolerant to personal delay on the meeting. However, the magnitude was so significant that a large amount of citizens were influenced at this time.

In addition, the concentration of London population is reaching the catastrophic point. Traffic jam is terrible, and the body of tubes is too small to commit a large number of commuter. The matter is due to landscape itself consist of old buildings which were structured in the past centuries. Therefore, solving this problem is not easy in spite of efforts of the city authorities such as 24 hour tube.

My past entry: 24 hours tube coming in London

Fortunately, I had no task to use the tube that morning. I visited Strand campus of Kings College London to listen to a seminar in the evening. The way was quite calm, seemed the confusion had been resolved.

Vampire in real?

Christopher Lee as Dracula passed away, R.I.P.

Do you believe in vampire? I do not.

However, there are some people believe that vampires exist in the real world. According to them, vampires are hiding themselves from the society so that they are not discriminated, especially by doctors.

International Business Times: Real-life vampires are shy because they don't want to be stereotyped by doctors

Actually, if a patient introduced himself as a vampire, I would diagnose him as delusional disorder. In that sense, I understand their concern.

There is an academic article discussing the matter. In this study, real vampires were proven to be distrustful of social workers and to be scared being misunderstood.

University of Windsor: Do we Always Practice What we Preach? Real Vampires’ Fears of Coming out of the Coffin to Social Workers and Helping Professionals

According to Atlanta Vampire Alliance, "a vampire is essentially an energy feeder or blood drinker that may display various levels of psychic ability." This definition is not so different from that I imagine from this word. But I think it is natural that bloodsuckers are disliked by ordinary human, unfortunate for them.

In a more generalized view, persons who have an alternative identity tend to experience some suffering in their daily life. It is partially unavoidable, but still not acceptable. A society in which any diversity is welcome is desirable, in the concept of modern liberalism. We have to think how can we help the minorities any time.

By the way, delusional disorder is relatively difficult to diagnose. How can you judge the claim of a woman that her husband is having an affair? It must not occur that CIA is spying you exclusively, but not by 100%. How about alien, ghost, or vampire? Common sense is not always your ally.

Number Needed to Treat (NNT): A chasm between patients and clinicians

If you take some medications, you may believe that your drugs can maintain your health, of course. Your doctor says, "You have high blood cholesterol level. This Somestatin can reduce your cholesterol. If you quit taking it, you shall be attacked by a stroke. Remember it." Ok, this drug saves your life. Thanks, Doc.

Is it really true?

It is quite simple in the assumption that, all persons who take the drug will survive, and all who do not take will die. But the situation is more complicated. Some people are so unfortunate that they encounter a serious stroke in spite of daily medication. Ironically, there are also some people still healthy without any care of their cholesterol level. It is a matter of chance.

So, you should consider how much Somestatin is effective in the prevention of tragic events.

As an assumption, Somestatin reduce the risk of stroke by 50% for these 20 years. Sound fantastic? In this case, do you choose to take medication continuously?

Actually, more information is needed to make a decision. The information about how is the risk of stroke if you do not take Somestatin is crucial.

Considering your age, the current level of cholesterol, family history, habits, and so on, 5% of the risk is admitted in these 20 years, for an example. So, If you take Somestatin, the risk is decreased to 2.5%. Can you accept daily medication for the reduction by only 2.5% of the risk of stroke?

This discussion resembles the matter of health examination, as I wrote previously.

My past entry: Sensitivity and specificity of examination about H. Pylori

In the region of epidemiology, Number Needed to Treat (NNT) is adopted as a standard to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. It means how many patients are needed to be treated for a successful prevention of an undesired result. If NNT=10, one patient is benefited from the treatment when ten patients take this treatment. Thus, other nine patients take treatment in vain.

In the example above, 95% of the patients will not encounter a stroke regardless of medication. And 2.5% will be betrayed by Somestatin. It is worthy for only 2.5% of the patients to take it. It means 25 persons in 1000 are saved by Somestatin.  Therefore, NNT is 40 (1000/25).

Surprisingly, only one person of forty can be benefited. Are you confident to be the one who will be attacked by stroke without medication and protected by the treatment? If you do not believe, it is rational to reject Somestatin.

In the real world, NNT of major drugs is various. Statins have an NNT of 60, according to thennt.com. This situation is more miserable than the assumption I presented.

Men's Journal: Drugs: Effective for the Few, Prescribed to the Many

You may think what a waste of money to prescribe statins is. However, I do not agree, notwithstanding the discussion above. Clinical practitioners desire to save the patients' life. We take any means to get the purpose. And there is no way to rescue the patient with 100% certainty. Instead, many patients lose their life despite any intervention. All we can do is to improve the possibility to protect them from probable mortality, regardless of the magnitude of efficacy. Therefore, we recommend taking statins to patients with high cholesterol level. We are happy to see one patient saved by our contribution, even if there are fifty-nine patients taking a meaningless drug behind him, because we cannot identify the one to be prescribed.

The standpoint of the patient is apparently different. The choice is yours. You may be annoyed to take daily medication. Or, you would regret when encountering the stroke if you rejected treatment. Concerning your health may be a proof of the love to your family.

In modern medicine, physicians look statistical view. But statistics is statistics. How interpret the result is your responsibility.

Women’s World Cup closed: at Pearl Harbor?

FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015 closed with the triumph of the US. Japan team, so called "Nadeshiko Japan" was defeated by the US in the final by 2-5.

Women's World Cup 2015 final: USA beat Japan 5-2 – as it happened

I seldom watch sports match. Nonetheless, I would like to bless the both team and everyone contributed to this great tournament.

By the way, there seem some too excited supporters. BBC reported that a considerable amount of people tweeted the victory of the US against Japan using a metaphor of Pearl Harbor so that this term was promoted to a trend in Twitter.

BBC: Pearl Harbor Twitter row after US World Cup win

Needless to say, Pearl Harbor is the place Japan air force aimed at at the beginning of WWII. This sudden attack caused serious damage to the US Army. In addition, the declaration of war had not reached the US at the time of the bombing. This event ignited the hatred of American people, and Japan and the US entered the dreadful war. Even after the war, "Remember Pearl Harbor" remained as a slogan.

Some people tweeted as that the victory in the World Cup was the revenge of Pearl Harbor. Of course, I know most of those tweeted so were just kidding. Otherwise, it would bring serious conflict between the both countries. Indeed, BBC summarized some tweets to introduce various opinions. Some Americans expressed a discomfort to such tweets.

Sports resemble wars. Both arouse the combative spirit. More powerful one will win, and the winner takes all. However, there is one definite difference. In a sports game, the loser can respect the winner. Instead, we can never understand each other with war.

I respect the US team for their excellent skills, even I missed it at all.

Sites in Japan granted World Heritage status after argument regarding forced laborer

Very recently, the 23 sites in Japan, including Yawata steel mill and island coalmine Gunkanjima, got world heritage status by Unesco.

They had contributed to modernization and industrialization of Japan in Meiji period. In late 19th century, Japan rapidly introduced continental technology to strengthen the productivity. A burst of innovation occurred to let Japan keep an independent country matching the Great Western powers.

It is honorable for Japanese to get the certification of world heritage status. It will also attract the attention of tourists.

However, there was a tough negotiation around the decision. South Korea and China had opposed the authorization of this grant.

South Korea claimed that Japan had to admit the fact that lots of Koreans were forced to work in such facilities before the WWII. The UN body's panel in Germany postponed a decision for 24 hours for further discussion. Finally, Japan agreed to acknowledge the use of conscripted labor.

Kuni Sato, Japanese delegation to Unesco said "Japan is prepared to take measures that allow an understanding that there were a large number of Koreans and others who were brought against their will and forced to work under harsh conditions in the 1940s at some of the sites."

The Guardian: Japan sites getworld heritage status after forced labouracknowledgement

He avoided using the term "forced labor," which Korea was strongly concerned. But he implicitly admitted this fact.

This decision delighted local people living around the placed subjected. Some people criticized that Japanese delegation compromised too much.

Yoshihide Suga, the chief cabinet secretary said "The government's position over those recruited from Korea has not changed," According to Asahi Shimbun, he said that the saying of Japanese delegation did not mean forced labor at all. He denied the adverse effect of this agreement on the conflict against Korea in the future.

Asahi Digital: Chief Cabinet Secretary"not means forced labor" World Heritage Registration

As a Japanese, I am happy that Japanese cites were registered to world heritage. I understand the attitude of Korean expressing the suffering having inflicted by Japan. I am not sure, however, whether it is really beneficial for Korea in a long-term way.

More or less, our civilization is built on the vast sacrifices of other people. Many slaves were forced to work, and even devote their lives to create Pyramid in Egypt, Great Wall in China, and so on. I saw many artifacts in Great Britain Museum, a considerable amount of which were robbed from colonized countries. History itself has a cruel characteristic. Seeing a World Heritage, we have to imagine this accumulation of the conflicts, and to respect for the people in the past.

Greek people vote no to austerity

Today, a historic, and rather an absurd referendum was conducted.

Over 60% of the voters did not support the austerity policy the EU has encouraged to Greece, according to an intermediate result of the vote.

The Irish Times: Greece referendum: Greeks vote No as third of votes counted

As I mentioned, this result is expectable, as people elected Tsipras, a politician belonging to the extreme left, as a Prime Minister. This result can relieve Tsipras and his colleagues. But so what? I am strongly doubtful that he has a panacea to deal with the financial crisis.

My past entry: Greece to default by the silly referendum

One of the feasible strategies is the resurrection of Drachma. Regardless of exit from Eurozone, Greece is suffering from serious depression. One of the reasons is insufficient circulation of the currency. Authorizing Drachma as a regional currency can help to empower the domestic economy, even if it is not admitted internationally. Although issuing a local currency is a violation of EU legislation, the government has few options.

To be honest, I think that this result will be a disgrace to Greek people. They would be considered not to return the debt. I am not sure what would happen if in a similar situation in Japan. In general, Japanese people respect the regulation sincerely. However, public opinion is easily twisted by the leading by politicians and mass media. In this case, the majority of Greek people must wish to stay in Eurozone. If this "No" vote had meant an immediate exile from EU and Eurozone, the result would not have been sure.

Anyway, Greece is going to default, and the trust of EU itself was seriously injured. I am afraid that German people is disappointed with this result, as they have been contributing a lot to the sustainability of EU.